Attorney Kevin Downing and the rest of Paul Manafort’s criminal defense team declined to call any witnesses at his trial Tuesday. | Mark Wilson/Getty Images

ALERT … PAUL MANAFORT’S defense team has rested its case without calling witnesses. Closing arguments are up next.

SIREN … POLITICO/MORNING CONSULT POLL ... STEVE SCALISE and NANCY PELOSI are the top choice for speaker of the House. 18% of Republicans want Scalise (R-La.) to be the speaker if Republicans take the House. 11% want Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) and 9% want House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.). Fifty-seven percent of people either do not know or have no opinion. Conservatives heavily favor Scalise: 16% of conservatives favor him, 12% want Jordan and 8% want McCarthy.

BREAKING -- “Trump campaign files for arbitration against Omarosa,” by Rebecca Morin: “‘Donald J. Trump for President, Inc. has filed an arbitration against Omarosa Manigault-Newman, with the American Arbitration Association in New York City, for breach of her 2016 confidentiality agreement with the Trump Campaign,’ a Trump campaign official said.” POLITICO

QUITE THE TWITTER EXCHANGE …PHIL BUMP (@pbump): “How would the board of a company react if the CEO told them that he hadn’t fired an unqualified employee who was disliked by coworkers because the employee constantly praised him?” …

-- GEORGE CONWAY (@gtconway3d) -- KELLYANNE’S HUSBAND -- RESPONDS: “Interesting analogy. Likewise, what if a CEO routinely made false and misleading statements about himself, the company, and results, and publicly attacked business partners, company ‘divisions’ (w/ scare quotes!), employees, and analysts, and kowtowed to a dangerous competitor?”

SPLIT SCREEN -- OMAROSA will be on MSNBC with KATY TUR at 2 p.m. THE WHITE HOUSE is sending SARAH HUCKABEE SANDERS out at 2 p.m. to talk to reporters.

DRIP DRIP … ANOTHER OMAROSA TAPE -- “Omarosa reveals audio of Trump campaign aides allegedly discussing potential fallout of N-word,” on “CBS This Morning”: “Trump campaign advisers denied on Monday that any conversations took place. CBS News has not been able to verify the authenticity of the recording - though it appears to confirm Omarosa’s claims that Trump campaign officials were aware of a tape in which then-candidate Trump uses a racial slur, and they talked about how to handle it.” CBS

-- LYNNE PATTON (@LynnePatton): “No one ever denied we had multiple conversations re: the Apprentice tape. To the contrary my interview w/@HuffPost proves @OMAROSA was obsessed & discussed it constantly. What we refuted is having a call that Luntz CONFIRMED Trump said it. Trump himself confirms to us he didn’t.”

-- PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP continued to lay into Manigault Newman, tweeting at 7:31 a.m., “When you give a crazed, crying lowlife a break, and give her a job at the White House, I guess it just didn’t work out. Good work by General Kelly for quickly firing that dog!”

WONDER how that will play with college-educated suburban women! @JeffFlake: “This kind of language is unbecoming of a President of the United States. There is no excuse for it, and Republicans should not be okay with it.”

Good Tuesday afternoon. ALSO ON THE PRESIDENT’S MIND -- @realDonaldTrump at 7:42 a.m.: “Another terrorist attack in London...These animals are crazy and must be dealt with through toughness and strength!”

… at 7:55 a.m.: “Bruce Ohr of the ‘Justice’ Department (can you believe he is still there) is accused of helping disgraced Christopher Steele ‘find dirt on Trump.’ Ohr’s wife, Nelly, was in on the act big time -- worked for Fusion GPS on Fake Dossier. @foxandfriends”.

… at 8:06 a.m.: “‘They were all in on it, clear Hillary Clinton and FRAME Donald Trump for things he didn’t do.’ Gregg Jarrett on @foxandfriends If we had a real Attorney General, this Witch Hunt would never have been started! Looking at the wrong people.”

… at 9:01 a.m.: “Fired FBI Agent Peter Strzok is a fraud, as is the rigged investigation he started. There was no Collusion or Obstruction with Russia, and everybody, including the Democrats, know it. The only Collusion and Obstruction was by Crooked Hillary, the Democrats and the DNC!”

Join POLITICO Playbook co-authors, Anna Palmer and Jake Sherman, and Playbook California author, Carla Marinucci, for a Playbook Elections event in California to discuss the 2018 midterms on Aug. 16, 2018 at 8:30 a.m. at the InterContinental Los Angeles Downtown. This event is part of the POLITICO-AARP series, “The Deciders.”

MORE ON THE STRZOK STORY -- “‘You stepped in it here’: How anti-Trump texts ruined the career of the FBI’s go-to agent,” by WaPo’s Matt Zapotosky and Devlin Barrett: “Strzok’s firing, rather than easing tensions, might serve to fuel the partisan inferno surrounding the bureau’s work. …

“Many people who worked with Strzok over the years said they did not know what his partisan leanings were until the messages emerged. But even supporters acknowledge his reputation might have sustained a fatal wound from his texts about people he was investigating, on a work phone, to a woman with whom he was having an affair.” WaPo

Playbook PM

Sign up for our must-read newsletter on what's driving the afternoon in Washington.

Email

By signing up you agree to receive email newsletters or alerts from POLITICO. You can unsubscribe at any time.

HEADS UP -- WSJ’S BEN MULLIN (@BenMullin): “New York Media, the publisher of New York Magazine, is exploring options including a potential sale.”

FOR YOUR RADAR -- “Details scarce, but White House says it’s actively working to bring Austin Tice home,” by McClatchy’s Franco Ordoñez and Stuart Leavenworth: “Six years after journalist Austin Tice disappeared in war-torn Syria, the State Department says it believes he is alive and that his case has ‘attention at the highest level’ of the Trump administration, including its new envoy for hostage affairs, Robert C. O’Brien.” McClatchy

AT THE DNC -- “Black caucus chairman opposes DNC plan to weaken superdelegate influence,” by David Siders: “Intensifying a dispute over superdelegates ahead of a [DNC] meeting next week, Congressional Black Caucus Chairman Cedric Richmond on Monday urged committee members to oppose a plan to weaken superdelegates’ influence in the presidential nominating process.

“In a letter to DNC Chairman Tom Perez, Richmond (D-La.) said the proposal would ‘disenfranchise elected officials’ who serve as superdelegates.” POLITICO

2020 WATCH -- “2020 Democrats take a page from Trump’s playbook on race,” by David Siders: “Democrats with 2020 aspirations are preparing for an uncharacteristically overt, racially pointed campaign against Trump, seeking to capitalize on major points of contrast with the Republican president. It's a marked departure from the last Democratic president, Barack Obama, who often downplayed race, long an undercurrent in presidential politics. …

“Some Democrats fear playing on Trump’s terms could alienate those same voters. In 2016, race worked to Trump’s advantage more than it did to Clinton’s, and if Democrats in 2020 press a match-up with Trump on issues of race, it is unclear they will prevail.” POLITICO

-- “An Iowa Evangelical Leader Is Gaining A National Audience By Pushing Back On Donald Trump,” by BuzzFeed’s Henry Gomez: BuzzFeed

AP’S JEFF HORWITZ: “Gates testimony dredges up Trump inaugural spending mystery”: “Donald Trump’s inaugural committee pushed back hard last summer on questions about whether the unprecedented $107 million budget for the event was fraught with cost overruns and misspending. A top inauguration official assured The Associated Press that spending had been restrained and monitored.

“In court last week, that same official — Rick Gates — acknowledged that he personally may have pocketed some of the inaugural committee’s money. … It’s not clear how much money Gates may have pocketed or whether his testimony will prompt the committee to review spending.” AP

2018 WATCH -- “For Rashida Tlaib, Palestinian Heritage Infuses a Detroit Sense of Community,” by NYT’s Elizabeth Dias in Detroit: “Ms. Tlaib attributes her political vision and sense of justice to her Palestinian heritage. She often references checkpoints around her relatives’ homes near Ramallah in the West Bank and how they limit residents’ access to health care and education. …

“When it comes to policy, Ms. Tlaib said she is mostly concerned with local issues, like Michigan’s high car insurance costs and creating ‘neighborhood services centers’ — reimagined district offices that offer community resources like free tax preparation or energy grants. She plans to spend as much time as possible in Michigan, not Washington, and even wondered whether it was possible to move her swearing-in ceremony to Detroit.” NYT

TOP-ED -- ROBERT RUBIN in WaPo, “America’s debt has exploded. Why does no one care?”: “Substantive fiscal policy work is essential, but all the good policy thinking in the world won’t matter unless the politics works. Without good politics, the policies won’t be implemented. And the politics of fiscal discipline have not been effectively addressed by too many of those who are deeply concerned about our country’s economic future — including me.” WaPo

FOR YOUR PLANNING … The RNC’s winter meeting will be held Jan. 23 to 25.

WAR REPORT -- “Far From Dead: Tens of Thousands of IS Fighters Linger in Iraq, Syria,” by Voice of America’s Jeff Seldin: “The Islamic State terror group may be far more resilient, stronger and dangerous than U.S. officials have been willing to let on, boasting a fighting force in Iraq and Syria that comes close to what it fielded at its peak.

“After four years of bombings, the elimination of key IS leaders, and other U.S. and coalition backed efforts, there are still anywhere from 28,600 to 31,600 IS fighters in Iraq and Syria, according to information given by the Defense Department.” VOA

SPY GAMES -- “Chinese Cops Now Spying on American Soil,” by The Daily Beast’s Bethany Allen-Ebrahimian: “[E]ven for those who have escaped China, surveillance and intimidation have followed. As part of a massive campaign to monitor and intimidate its ethnic minorities no matter where they are, Chinese authorities are creating a global registry of Uighurs who live outside of China, threatening to detain their relatives if they do not provide personal and identifying information to Chinese police. This campaign is now reaching even Uighurs who live in the United States.” The Daily Beast

ON THE WORLD STAGE -- “Erdoğan announces ‘boycott’ of American electronics,” by POLITICO Europe’s Jakob Hanke: “Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said Monday Turkey would boycott American electronics, amplifying fears of economic nationalism and further confrontation with the United States just as the currency plunges. … ‘If they have iPhones, on the other side there is Samsung. And in our own country there is our own Venus Vestel,’ he added.” POLITICO Europe

-- “Warm, high-profile welcome for Taiwanese president in the United States,” by the South China Morning Post’s Lawrence Chung: “Taiwanese analysts said Tsai’s warm reception in the U.S. included U.S. President Donald Trump’s signing of the National Defence Authorisation Act, which opens the door to bigger arms deals and military exchanges with Taiwan.” South China Morning Post

HMM … “Scientists Are Still Fighting Over What Made US Diplomats In Cuba Ill,” by BuzzFeed’s Emily Tamkin: BuzzFeed

The most reliable politics newsletter.

Sign up for POLITICO Playbook and get the latest news, every morning — in your inbox.

Email

By signing up you agree to receive email newsletters or alerts from POLITICO. You can unsubscribe at any time.

AFTERNOON READ -- NICK CONFESSORE with the NYT MAGAZINE cover story: “The Unlikely Activists Who Took On Silicon Valley — and Won”: “For most of its relatively brief existence, Silicon Valley has been more lightly regulated than almost any other major industry. The technology that drove the business was complex, and few lawmakers wanted to be seen as standing in the way of a new kind of wealth creation, one that seemed to carry no messy downsides like pollution or global economic collapse.

“Most of the biggest tech companies could simply ignore Washington — until they grew too big for Washington to ignore. When regulators finally threatened to intervene, the companies did what they were best at: They scaled up, this time not with software and servers but with phalanxes of lobbyists and lawyers.” NYT Magazine … The cover

WHAT ANNA IS READING -- PLAYBOOK METRO SECTION -- Bon Appétit named Maydan the No. 2 best new restaurant in America. (Oklahoma City’s Nonesuch topped the list.) The full top 10

FIRST IN PLAYBOOK – BUSH ALUMNI: YUVAL LEVIN is working on a new book about how Americans think about institutions and how our changing relationship with them is at the “center of our social crisis,” Levin, editor of National Affairs and a Bush WH alum, told us. The book, with the title “A Time to Build,” will come out mid-next year and will be published by Basic Books.

MEDIAWATCH -- Graham Vyse started Monday as a staff writer at Governing Magazine. He was most recently a staff writer at The New Republic.

TRANSITIONS -- Erika Masonhall has moved to Los Angeles and started as manager of content communications at Netflix. She previously was manager of news communications at Facebook and is an NBC News and Joe Lieberman alum. … Jon Berrier will be senior director for public affairs at Juul, based in San Francisco. He most recently was executive VP for public affairs at Edelman and is a George W. Bush and Arnold Schwarzenegger alum. … Jeff Holmes is now deputy director of communications for Iowa Democratic gubernatorial nominee Fred Hubbell. He previously was a director at SKDKnickerbocker.

WELCOME TO THE WORLD -- BOEHNER ALUMNI -- Jared Eichhorn, senior manager of federal government affairs at the Association for Global Automakers who used to work for Speakers John Boehner and Paul Ryan, and Sarah Cannon, LD for Rep. Mike Simpson (R-Idaho), on Saturday welcomed Charles Cannon Eichhorn, who came in at 7 pounds, 3 ounces, and is 20 inches long. Pic

About The Author

Jake Sherman is a senior writer for POLITICO and co-author of POLITICO’s Playbook, the most indispensable morning newsletter for the biggest influencers in politics.

Jake is the top congressional reporter on Capitol Hill and has built a career on landing hard-to-get scoops.

Since 2009, Jake has chronicled all of the major legislative battles on Capitol Hill, and has also traveled the country to cover the battle for control of Congress.

Jake takes readers inside the rooms where decisions are made. His high-impact reporting resulted in the resignation of Aaron Schock.

Before landing at POLITICO, Jake worked in the Washington bureaus of The Wall Street Journal, Newsweek and the Minneapolis Star Tribune. He also interned on the metro desk of The Journal News (N.Y.) and, during high school, worked on the sports desk of the Stamford Advocate (Conn.).

Jake is a Connecticut native, and a graduate of The George Washington University — where he edited The GW Hatchet — and Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism. Jake lives in Washington with his wife Irene, and listens to an unhealthy amount of Grateful Dead and Phish.

About The Author

Anna Palmer is a senior Washington correspondent for POLITICO and co-author of POLITICO’s Playbook, the most indispensable morning newsletter for the biggest influencers in politics.

Anna covers the world of Congress and politics, and has successfully chronicled the business of Washington insiders for years. Her stories take readers behind the scenes for the biggest fights in Washington as well as the 2016 election.

Prior to becoming POLITICO’s senior Washington correspondent, Anna was the co-author of the daily newsletter, POLITICO Influence, considered a must-read on K Street.

Anna previously covered House leadership and lobbying as a staff writer for Roll Call. She got her start in Washington journalism as a lobbying business reporter for the industry newsletter Influence. She has also worked at Legal Times, where she covered the intersection of money and politics for the legal and lobbying industry, first as a staff writer and then as an editor.

A native of North Dakota, Anna is a graduate of St. Olaf College, where she was executive editor of the weekly campus newspaper, the Manitou Messenger. She lives in Washington, D.C.

About The Author

Daniel Lippman is a reporter for POLITICO and a co-author of POLITICO's Playbook, the most indispensable morning newsletter for the biggest influencers in politics.

Before joining POLITICO, he was a fellow covering environmental news for E&E Publishing and a reporter for The Wall Street Journal in New York. He has also interned for McClatchy Newspapers and Reuters. During a stint freelancing in 2013, he traveled to the Turkish-Syrian border to cover the impact of the Syrian civil war for The Huffington Post and CNN.com.

He graduated from The Hotchkiss School in 2008 and from The George Washington University in 2012. Daniel hails from the Berkshires in western Massachusetts and enjoys playing tennis, seeing movies and trying out new restaurants in his free time.

About The Author

Eli Okun is a Playbook producer and Playbook PM co-author.

Before joining POLITICO in 2017, he worked as a reporter for the New Hampshire Union Leader, covering local news and the 2016 election. He has also written for The Texas Tribune, Providence Business News and GlobalPost.

A Maryland native, he graduated from Brown University, where he studied international relations and was editor-in-chief of The Brown Daily Herald.